OPEC ministers said today they agreed to keep oil output unchanged, postponing until an emergency meeting on July 3rd a policy on how to compensate for Iraq's stoppage of UN-administered oil sales.
Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said ministers would ratify their decision in formal session this afternoon.
The agreement leaves official limits for 10 members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at 24.2 million barrels daily.
OPEC is expected at the July meeting to consider raising supply to fill the gap left by the Iraqi outage and to meet rising demand ahead of the winter season.
Yesterday Iraq halted exports under the United Nations oil-for-food programme in protest at a UN proposal to overhaul Gulf War sanctions and crack down on oil smuggled by Baghdad.
